Pillar of the Mind
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996) |guardians = • The original Mind Guardian • The martyr Mind guardian • Nupraptor |token = • Nupraptor's Head |restored = • 1st, after Nupraptor's death |appearances = • • • }} The Pillar of the Mind is one of the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, and the westernmost one on the dais. Attuned to the property of Mind, it was preserved by various guardians before coming under the protection of the Human Guardian Nupraptor, and was eventually sundered in the Collapse of the Pillars following his death. Its pillar token was Nupraptor's Head. The Pillar appears throughout the entirety of the Legacy of Kain series. Role As one of the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Pillar of the Mind appeared throughout the Legacy of Kain series, debuting in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The Pillar was present along with its peers in the [[Pillars of Nosgoth (BO1)|Pillars of Nosgoth areas of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain]], ''Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver'', ''Soul Reaver 2'' and ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' and could be revisited in all titles after its initial appearance. Constructed in the period Before Nosgoth's recorded history, the Pillar of the Mind was known to have been served by an unnamed Mind Guardian in Nosgoth's early history before his death at the hands of Vorador in the Slaughter of the Circle. In the pre-Blood Omen era the Pillar of the Mind was corrupted when Balance Guardian Ariel was murdered by the Dark Entity. Upon finding her corpse, her lover - the Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, Nupraptor - was driven mad by grief and unleashed a frenzy of mental energy, which drove all of his fellow Guardians insane and simultaneously corrupted their Pillars. In the Blood Omen era Kain had first visited the pillar and met Ariel at the outset of his quest and would return periodically to restore pillars and consult Ariel. The Pillar of the Mind was the first of the Pillars to be restored during Kain's initial quest, and enjoyed the most time in its unblemished state. It was briefly returned to normal when Kain offered Nupraptor's Head to it, following Kain's killing of Nupraptor. Some time later after the restoration of the other pillars, Kain chose to refuse the Sacrifice and triggered the Collapse of the Pillars. Now rotten to its core, the festering stump of the Pillar of the Mind was all that remained, alongside its eight counterparts. Lasting in this state into the late Soul Reaver era the pillar would be visited by Raziel in pursuit of his vendetta against Kain and he too would return to gather advice from Ariel. As Raziel and Kain traveled through time in Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance they would encounter the pillar several more times in different states in different eras - pristine in Nosgoth's early history and the Pre-Blood Omen eras, corrupted in the Pre-Blood Omen and Blood Omen eras, and collapsed in the Blood Omen and Post-Blood Omen eras. Ultimately it was revealed that the Pillar of the Mind - like its peers - was constructed by the Ancient Vampires to bind the banishment of their enemies, the Hylden race, into the Demon Realm. It was originally guarded by an Ancient Vampire - the original Mind Guardian - and its creation marked the close of the Vampire-Hylden war. Notes *In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the Pillar of the Mind was decorated with a brain-like motif set against a fleshy background color. In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, this was replaced with a simple purple-colored band. Further games have depicted the Pillar with a light purple-colored band and the Mind symbol, introduced in Soul Reaver 2. Explaining the changes, series art director Daniel Cabuco commented: "The symbol designs themselves from Blood Omen 1 were pretty craptastic wallpapers. I don't believe they served the intention of making the pillars look serious and powerful. So we designed symbols, just like we did for the clans, the runes, and everything else that was important. There's not that much of a story other than all of us looking at each other as we went over the original designs and saying 'Seriously?! We can't move forward with these as originals.. no way!'" Pillars of Nosgoth areas at DCabDesign (by Bazielim), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) One instance of what may be an alternative symbol is seen in Soul Reaver 2's Light Forge. *Though it does appear in the Vorgeschichte, the Pillar of the Mind cannot be seen in the ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' comic, and is not identifiable in the ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' comic. In the former, only the Pillar of Balance is seen, and in the latter, only six of the Pillars are depicted, with the space that should occupy the pillar apparently covered completely by foreground art. The Pillar is also uniquely absent from the Blood Omen 2 introduction, appearing from its known location to be just off the edge of the screen. *Like its peers, the Pillar of the Mind is seen underground in the Subterranean Pillars Chamber of Soul Reaver 2. Here it bears no identifying marks and only its position allows it to be pinpointed. Gallery BO1-Render-Pillar-Mind.png|Pillar of the Mind (BO1) SR1-Pillars-Symbols-Mind.png|Pillar of the Mind (SR1) SR2-Pillars-Symbols-Mind.png|Pillar of the Mind (SR2) Defiance-Pillars-Symbols-Mind.png|Pillar of the Mind (Defiance) SR1-Intro-005.png|The Mind Pillar (far left) among others in the SR1 intro Comic 002.jpg|Vorgeschichte Texture-Mural-LightForge-PillarsRaised.png|A possible alternative Mind symbol, among others (SR2). File:Defiance-Fankit-Symbol-Pillars-Mind.png|The recurring symbol representing the Mind (Defiance). File:Defiance-Texture-VampireCitadel-PillarSymbol-Mind.png|The recurring symbol representing the Mind (Defiance). Appearances * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver * Soul Reaver 2 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance See also *Pillars of Nosgoth (BO1/''SR1/''SR2/''Sub/''DEF) *Mind *Mind Guardian (Mind Guardian (original)/''Martyred Mind Guardian/''Nupraptor) *Nupraptor's Head *Mind Glyph *Mind fragment *Mind (Reaver enhancement) References Category:Glossary Category:Glossary: Blood Omen glossary Category:Glossary: Blood Omen 2 glossary Category:Glossary: Defiance glossary Category:Glossary: Soul Reaver glossary Category:Glossary: Soul Reaver 2 glossary Category:Navigation Category:Navigation: Blood Omen Category:Navigation: Blood Omen 2 Category:Navigation: Defiance Category:Navigation: Soul Reaver Category:Navigation: Soul Reaver 2